Jeltje van der Werf
Jeltje van der Werf was a Dutch kortebaanschaatsen speed skater. She skated her first race in 1870 in Dokkum. She won her first race in 1871 in Oudkerk. A week later, she won individually in Oudkerk, and again in Leeuwarden. She won several more races. At the age of 24, she was called the fastest woman. In that period she married. However, twenty weeks after the marriage, her husband died. As a widow, she won over a thousand gulden in prize money and some prestigious races.
Van der Werf married again in 1887 with Auke Bosma. They had a son and a daughter together.
She was still competing at the age of 43, when a grandmother. At that age she lived in Veenwouden. At the age of 60, she fell during skating. The injury was severe, and she had to walk a year with a stick. When she was 80 she lived in Veenwoudsterwal.
